FROM PISTE TO PODIUM - A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF FENCING COACHING IN BRITAIN By DAVID MICHAEL JULIAN KIRBY A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham For the degree of MPhil (B) SPORTS COACHING (EDUCATION) School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences University of Birmingham December 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Fencing has been contested in every Olympiad of the modern era, with Great Britain represented throughout, but British Fencing international performance results have declined over the last 40 years (FIE, 2011). Other nations have maintained their standing in the world rankings. This difference might be explained by a variance in the way that fencing coaches are trained. A qualitative study was undertaken to investigate if differences existed in the coach education systems at home and abroad. In the research a sample of expert coaches (n=12) from Britain (n=6) and Europe (n=6) were questioned on the way they were trained, how they worked and what they felt coaches needed to know using semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts of the interviews was made to provide the data for the research. The study reviewed the literature of coaching in general and the work on the teaching of fencing and this was used to support or contradict the data from the subsequent research. From the research data it was discovered that expert coaches gained most of their coaching knowledge and skills from their own professional experience, from deliberate and reflective practice, and from working with mentors. Acquiring this expert knowledge took years rather weeks and included knowledge of coaching science, pedagogy and sports and exercise sciences. The formal courses currently on offer were not found to be very useful in the gaining of coaching expertise, in that the courses did not convey enough information or time to practice. Putting these findings of how expert coaches gained their expertise into the syllabi and delivery of coach education might help raise both British Fencing coaching standards and assist the fencing athletes to the podium. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many people who have encouraged me, kept me going when it would have been easy to give up and whose knowledge and enthusiasm have made the journey so worthwhile. First they are the staff and lecturers at the School of Education, University of Birmingham, in particular my Supervisor, Dr Martin Toms, to whom I owe a great debt of thanks for his wonderful and incisive comments and guidance. Without the stoic support and encouragement of my wife, Marguerite, the project would not have succeeded; thank you, my patient checker of references. My thanks go to the many people who have from time-to-time looked over parts of the work, discussed ideas and freely given me theirs. Thanks also to Gill, who so carefully proofread the final draft. I would like to thank the Directors and staff of the Sydney Sabre Centre, in Australia, for their forbearance as the work neared completion and their new Chief Instructor became more and more distracted. You have my full attention al last. Finally, my thanks go to the coaches and others who told me their stories so openly and frankly. Without them none of this would have been possible. Köszönöm szépen. “When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” (Milne, 1928, p.101) iii CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. iii CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................. ............................................. vii List of Figures ............................................................................................. vii Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION .................................................. ...................... 1 1.1. Introduction to the Chapter ............................................................... 1 1.2. Outline of the Study ........................................................................... 1 1.3. Introduction to the Research Question ............................................ 1 1.4. Overview of the Thesis ...................................................................... 3 1.5. Methodological Background ............................................................. 3 1.6. Organisation and Governance of Fencing ....................................... 4 1.7. Organisation and Leadership of Coaching in British Fencing . 4 1.8. Chapter Conclusion ........................................................................... 5 Chapter 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 6 2.1. Introduction to the Chapter ............................................................... 6 2.2. Coaching as a Profession.................................................................. 6 2.2.1. The Science of Coaching and Pedagogy ............................................. 7 2.2.2. Changing from Belief-Based to Evidenced-Based Coaching ............. 11 2.2.3. Coaching as a Whole-Person Holistic Activity .................................... 12 2.2.4. Development of Teaching within Coaching ........................................ 12 2.2.5. Development of Coaching Models ...................................................... 14 2.2.6. The Nature and Acquisition of Coaching Expertise ............................ 16 2.2.7. The Perceived Weakness of Formal Coach Education ...................... 17 2.2.8. What a Coach Needs to Know – The Coach Education Syllabus....... 20 2.2.9. The Measurement and Evaluation of the Expert Coaching Process .. 21 2.3. Designing Training of Coaches and Coach Education ................. 23 2.3.1. The Role of the Senior Coach or Mentor ............................................ 24 2.4. Sports and Exercise Sciences in Fencing...................................... 26 2.4.1. Appearance of Research Based Literature Specifically on Fencing ... 26 2.4.2. Sport Psychology and Physiology for Fencing ................................... 28 2.5. Literature on Coaching of Fencing in English – Masters’ Treatises ........................................................................................................... 29 2.5.1. Masters’ Treatises on Fencing and Coaching .................................... 30 2.6. Chapter Conclusion ......................................................................... 31 Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY .................................................. .................... 32 3.1. Introduction to the Methodology Chapter ...................................... 32 3.2. Methodological Paradigm .................................................. .............. 32 3.3. Rationale for the Research Method ................................................ 33 3.4. The Researcher ................................................................................ 36 3.5. Pilot Study .................................................. ....................................... 38 3.6. The Research Design .................................................. ..................... 39 3.6.1. Participants – Sample Selection ......................................................... 39 3.6.2. Brief Vignettes of the Participants ...................................................... 40 Ádám .................................................................................................. 40 iv Andrew ............................................................................................... 4 1 Balázs ................................................................................................ 4 1 Basil ................................................................................................... 41 Charles ............................................................................................... 4 1 Csaba ................................................................................................. 4 1 Daniel ................................................................................................. 41 Edward ............................................................................................... 4 2 Gábor ................................................................................................. 42 Louis ................................................................................................... 42 Miklós ................................................................................................. 4 2 Pál .....................................................................................................